For the love of beauty. That’s why I’m doing what I’m doing now. I love beauty. And I will call beautiful whatever I want to. This is what I love.

Sunday night Lisa and I had Sarah and her mom Sandy over. Sarah was so sad. She didn’t bother to get out of her pajamas for days. “That’s healthy!” Lisa assured her. We invited them over to watch the Grammys. I bought a bunch of special beers from Checkoslovakia, France and Belgium. We bought some Gruyer cheese and expensive crackers. Sarah is losing weight because food has no appeal these days, so I offer things that can fatten her up. She brought some smokes. We just sat and talked and ate and drank with smoke breaks every hour or so. We loved the music, the conversation, the fellowship of gathering together in front of the TV. Time gladly passed, and maybe some of the pain with it.

Tonight Lisa and I are going to the visitation for Kerry. We will just love our friends, touch their hands and hug them, look into their eyes and let them see our love for them and how we share their sorrow as much as we can.

And as I write this, I am listening to Kathleen Edwards at a volume way too high if I were in an apartment. My son Jesse is just leaving with a friend on a snow-mobile to race up and down the river in spite of the cold. He’s happy today.

There is something essential about being real, being human, and just being there. This is what pastors do. Because this is what friends do. Because this is what people do. Augment that with wine, beer, tobacco, music and love.. well, what more do we need right now? It is all taken up in a cloud of benediction.

The fine-art photograph is from my friend Jorgen Klausen’s Tatoo series.

Contributions to nakedpastor are greatly appreciated.